SHAFAQNA – Secretary General of Lebanon’s Islamic Towhid Movement Sheikh Balal Shaban called for immediate halt to the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen, saying that only Israel benefits from the situation in Yemen. “The aggression of Saudi Arabia and its allies against Yemen should come to a halt as the Zionist regime is the sole beneficiary of the attacks,” Sheikh Shaba.

He described the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen as a proxy war, and said, “These wars are aimed at weakening the Arab world and keeping the Arabs’ attention off the Zionist enemy so they are not in the interest of the Arabs and Muslims, neither the Sunni nor Shiite Muslims, and only serve the Zionist regime.”

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for seven days now to restore power to fugitive Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi airstrikes have killed at least, 198, mostly women and children, and injured hundreds more.

Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

Five Persian Gulf States — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait — and Egypt that are also assisted by Israel and backed by the US declared war on Yemen in a joint statement issued Thursday.

US President Barack Obama authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to the military operations, National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said late Wednesday night.

She added that while US forces were not taking direct military action in Yemen, Washington was establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to coordinate US military and intelligence support.